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January 08, 2009

Pro Per Gets Hot Porn* Suit Sent to Vegas

Getting a case transferred can be difficult for even the most skilled lawyers.

But Mark LaPerna, founder of a gay porn site, just got a copyright infringement suit from porn producer Titan Media transferred to Las Vegas without a lawyer and without even filing a motion to transfer. Plus, LaPerna — also a Pee Wee Herman impersonator in Las Vegas — got some digs in on a conference call with a Titan Media lawyer and an alternative dispute administrator that would even make Alex Kozinski blush (or laugh, we’re not sure).

Gil Sperlein, general counsel at San Francisco’s Titan Media, filed suit (.pdf) against LaPerna in February last year in the Northern District of California. The suit accused the Las Vegas man and others of illegally uploading porn clips and pics to the social networking site called the Big Dick Club that LaPerna built on Ning.com.

LaPerna, who said he doesn’t have enough money to hire a lawyer, sent an impassioned — and very entertaining — letter (.pdf) to the court denying all the allegations. In the same letter, Laperna tugs on the court’s heartstrings, writing how he’s on disability and food stamps and brings in just $800 a month. He can’t make it out to San Jose because of his health: “I am currently looking for a Hospice where I can go die in peace. I don’t have much longer, and the sooner this case is resolved the better my final days will be!”

He also explains that no one would want to post Titan Media’s videos anyway: “Titan Media Videos suck! Nobody likes them.”

The letter prompted Judge Patricia Trumbull to issue an order to show cause about why the case shouldn’t be transferred to Laperna’s hometown Las Vegas. Sperlein argued that because Ning’s servers, where the alleged infringement took place, and Titan Media, the alleged victim, are here, the case should be too. He also took a shot at Laperna’s disability claims:

“Mr. LaPerna claims to be looking for hospice care. However, on line statements indicate that Mr. LaPerna works as a Pee Wee Herman impersonator at the Hard Rock Café in Las Vegas. On his myspace page, he has published pictures of himself traveling and socializing with Paris Hilton,” Sperlein wrote.

Judge Trumbull obviously didn’t think that impersonating Pee Wee Herman was a game changer, and on Wednesday ordered that the case be transferred (.pdf). Trumbull wrote that Sperlein hadn’t proved that Laperna had “received any revenue from California residents” with his site, or produced any evidence that Laperna profited off of the uploaded clips. Having servers in California just isn’t enough for jurisdiction, she wrote.

Sperlein told Legal Pad he thought the ruling was “erroneous.” LaPerna meanwhile was overjoyed. He sent Sperlein an email with the subject line: “SEE YOU IN VEGAS..... BABY!” with an accompanying photo of that city’s famous “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign.

Laperna and Sperlein haven’t exactly been seeing eye-to-eye throughout the litigation. Sperlein told Legal Pad that it’s difficult to deal with a pro per who doesn’t demonstrate the same civility as a fellow lawyer. “He has cursed at the alternative dispute administrator on the telephone and hung up,” Sperlein said.

LaPerna countered that Sperlein has been harassing him and the members of his site with threatening letters and blackmail. Asked what he said on the call with the administrator, LaPerna told Legal Pad, but we won’t repeat it verbatim. Suffice it to say LaPerna opined that the two men were in need of something large and penetrating.

Well, now the show is now off to Las Vegas — where it most certainly belongs.